Hybrid melon variety 34-742 rz

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a  Cucumis melo  seed designated 34-742 RZ. The present invention also relates to a  Cucumis melo  plant produced by growing the 34-742 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the melon cultivar, represented by melon variety 34-742 RZ.

RELATED APPLICATIONS AND INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is claims benefit of and priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 62/276,460 filed Jan. 8, 2016.

The foregoing applications, and all documents cited therein or duringtheir prosecution (“appln cited documents”) and all documents cited orreferenced in the appln cited documents, and all documents cited orreferenced herein (“herein cited documents”), and all documents cited orreferenced in herein cited documents, together with any manufacturer'sinstructions, descriptions, product specifications, and product sheetsfor any products mentioned herein or in any document incorporated byreference herein, are hereby incorporated herein by reference, and maybe employed in the practice of the invention. More specifically, allreferenced documents are incorporated by reference to the same extent asif each individual document was specifically and individually indicatedto be incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a new hybrid melon (Cucumis melo)variety designated 34-742 RZ.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Melon plants of the species Cucumis melo belong to the cucurbit family,scientifically called the Cucurbitaceae. Within this family it belongsto the genus Cucumis, which does not only harbor a variety of melontypes, but also the important food crop cucumber, Cucumis sativus, aswell as several other, less well-known species. It is an annual,herbaceous, flowering plant species which appears to have originated inAfrica or possibly Asia.

The species Cucumis melo has taxonomically been classified in variousways over the years, for example using a division into subspecies meloand agrestis with further classification into varieties, whereinbasically all cultivated melons belong to the ssp. melo. Anotherclassification divides C. melo into 7 taxonomic varieties, one of whichcombines all wild types (C. melo var. agrestis), and the other sixinclude the cultivated melons. These six cultivated varieties arecantalupensis, inodorus, flexuosus, conomon, dudaim, and momordica. Thecultivated netted melon types muskmelon and cantaloupe, which includefor example Galia, Charentais, Ogen, and Eastern and Western shippers,in this classification belong to C. melo var. cantalupensis. The othermain group of sweet melons, such as Honeydews, and Cassaba types (e.g.Piel de Sapo, Jaune Canari) belong to C. melo var. inodorus, whichharbours non-climacteric and generally less or non-aromatic melon typeswith a better shelf life than cantalupensis.

Most non-sweet melons are grouped into the other taxonomic varieties,including for example snake melon, which is eaten immature as analternative for cucumber, and belongs to C. melo var. flexuosus.

Melon plants were domesticated early and have been cultivated forthousands of years in African and Asian countries. They are presentlycultivated worldwide for their delicious and highly nutritious fruits,and are a good source of vitamin C and potassium. Depending on the typethey can also provide useful amounts of other compounds such as vitaminA, B6, and folate. Melons are typically consumed fresh, in salads orprepared into desserts, appetizers, or drinks, for which they can becombined with a variety of other ingredients.

In 2011, the total acreage for cantaloupes in the United States wasapproximately 70,950 acres, with a total production of about 18.8million cwt, representing a value of just over $349.7 million. Honeydewswere harvested from 14,400 acres which resulted in a production of about3.2 million cwt, having a value of approximately $70.7 million (source:USDA/NASS 2012).

Melon production is most successful in a climate with a long warm sunnyseason that is relatively dry. Several pests and diseases can affectmelon production, including several viruses that are often transferredby insects, but also nematodes, bacterial and fungal diseases. Typicalproblems that might arise during melon production include Fusariumoxysporum f sp. melonis (Fom) race 0, race 1, race 2, or race 1,2; downymildew (Pseudoperonospora cubensis); powdery mildew (Podosphaera xanthiior Golovinomyces cichoracearum); gummy stem blight (Didymella bryoniae);sudden wilt, including infection by Monosporascus cannonballus;Alternaria cucumerina; bacterial wilt (Erwinia tracheiphila); theviruses Melon Necrotic Spot Virus (MNSV), Watermelon Mosaic Virus (WMV),Cucurbit Yellow Stunting Disorder Virus (CYSDV), Cucumber Vein YellowingVirus (CVYV), Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV),Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus (ZYMV); and insect attacks by cotton aphids(Aphis gossypii), pickleworm, whitefly (Bemisia tabaci), and leafminer.

Breeding for resistance against any of the diseases and pests that arementioned above, or any other biotic or abiotec stress factors, is animportant aspect in providing varieties for multiple growing systems andclimates. It is preferred to breed for a combination of resistances tocreate a variety that is most suitable in a certain situation orenvironment.

In order to create melon varieties that are satisfying the needs ofgrowers and/or consumers, many considerations have to be taken intoaccount. The goal in a breeding programme is to combine within a singlevariety or hybrid an improved combination of desirable traits from theparental germplasms. These traits may include higher yield, fieldperformance, resistance to diseases and insects, and tolerance todrought and heat. For melons it is apparent that fruit quality is of theutmost importance, which includes aspects such as external and internalcolor, content in soluble solids including sweetness, aroma, texture,juiciness, size of the seed cavity, firmness, and shelf life. Inaddition, characteristics related to optimum plant development are veryimportant for the grower, such as uniformity and speed of germination,growth rate, time to maturity, and plant uniformity.

Melon is a diploid plant species with twelve pairs of chromosomes.Cultivated melon plants can have different flower types, which can bepresent in various combinations. The situations that are most common aremonoecious plants, containing male and female flowers, andandromonoecious plants, which combine male and hermaphrodite flowers.Other sex expressions that are occurring in melon are gynoecious andhermaphrodite; in these cases only female or hermaphrodite flowers arepresent respectively. The sex expression of melon is extensivelystudied, and two genes involved in determining the type and combinationof flowers in a melon plant have been identified.

Melon plants in principle are self-pollinators but cross pollinationoccurs frequently, predictably also depending on the type of flowersthat is present. The presence of pollinating insects facilitates bothself- and cross-pollination. Like in most crops, commercial meloncultivars were initially open-pollinated, but nowadays many highyielding hybrid varieties are available. Melons are grown throughout theworld, in open field as well as protected cultivation, and are adaptedto many different climates and circumstances. As mentioned earlier, manydifferent types are available, and different regions have differentpreferences in type, size, flesh color, taste, etc. Since all melontypes belong to the same species, no crossing barriers exist andcombinations between types are frequently developed in breedingprogrammes, although some specific type characteristics might bedifficult to recombine into a new type.

The habit of a melon plant contributes to the overall performance andultimately to the development and yield of the melon fruits. A fruitcolor and type that is suited to and attractive for the intendedconsumers plays an important role in the success of a variety. CircularHarper type melons with orange flesh colour and a light creamy silverygrey fruit skin are attractive to consumers.

Growers rely on the presence of resistances to pests and diseases inanticipation of a good melon crop. In addition, the presence ofresistances requires lower pesticide inputs, which benefits both thecosts for the farmer and the environment.

Citation or identification of any document in this application is not anadmission that such document is available as prior art to the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a new melon (Cucumis melo) variety,designated 34-742 RZ.

The present invention provides seeds of melon cultivar 34-742 RZ, whichhave been deposited with the National Collections of Industrial, Marineand Food Bacteria (NCIMB) in Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, Scotland, UKand have been assigned NCIMB Accession No. 42710.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant designated34-742 RZ, representative seed of which have been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42710.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a melon plant designated34-742 RZ, as well as seed from such a plant, plant parts of such aplant (such as those mentioned herein) and plants from such seed and/orprogeny of such a plant, advantageously progeny exhibiting the samemorphological and physiological characteristics as such a plant, each ofwhich is within the scope of the invention.

In one embodiment the invention relates to a melon plant that hasgenetic material for exhibiting all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of a plant of the invention. The geneticinformation for exhibiting all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics is as contained in a plant, representative seed of whichhaving been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42710.

In an embodiment of the present invention, there also is provided a partof a melon plant of the invention, including a part of hybrid melonvariety 34-742 RZ, wherein the plant part is involved in sexualreproduction, which includes, without limitation, a microspore, pollen,an ovary, an ovule, an embryo sac or an egg cell and/or wherein theplant part is suitable for vegetative reproduction, which includes,without limitation, a cutting, a root, a stem, a cell, or a protoplastand/or wherein the plant part is a tissue culture of regenerable cellsin which the cells or protoplasts of the tissue culture are derived froma tissue such as, for example and without limitation, a leaf, pollen, anembryo, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, a meristematic cell, a root, a roottip, an anther, a flower, a seed or a stem. The plant of the inventionfrom which such a part may come includes those wherein representativeseed has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42710.

In another embodiment there is a plant grown from a seed, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42710. Ina further embodiment there is a plant regenerated from anabove-described plant part, or regenerated from the above-describedtissue culture. Advantageously such a plant may have morphologicaland/or physiological characteristics of hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZand/or of a plant grown from seed, representative seed of which havingbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42710—including withoutlimitation such plants having all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ and/or of a plantgrown from seed, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42710. Accordingly, in still a furtherembodiment, there is provided a melon plant having all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of hybrid melon variety34-742 RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited underNCIMB Accession No. 42710. Such a plant may be grown from a seed,regenerated from an above-described plant part, or regenerated from theabove-described tissue culture. A melon plant having all of theresistances and the characteristics recited and tabulated herein ispreferred. Parts of such a plant—such as those plant partsabove-mentioned—are encompassed by the invention.

In one embodiment, there is provided progeny of melon cultivar 34-742 RZproduced by sexual or vegetative reproduction, grown from a seed,regenerated from an above-described plant part, or regenerated from theabove-described tissue culture of the melon cultivar or a progeny plantthereof, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42710.

Progeny of the hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ may be modified in one ormore other characteristics, in which the modification is a result of,for example and without limitation, mutagenesis or transformation with atransgene.

In still another embodiment, the present invention provides progeny ofmelon cultivar 34-742 RZ produced by sexual or vegetative reproduction,grown from a seed, regenerated from an above-described plant part, orregenerated from the above-described tissue culture of the meloncultivar or a progeny plant thereof.

In one embodiment the invention relates to progeny of a melon plant,wherein the progeny has genetic material which is as contained in aplant, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42710.

In another embodiment the invention relates to a method of producing aninbred melon plant derived from a plant of the invention of whichrepresentative seed has been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB42710, which may comprise of the steps: a) preparing a progeny plantderived from hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ by crossing a melon plantdesignated 34-742, representative seed of which have been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. 42710 with a second melon plant; b) crossingthe progeny plant with itself or a second melon plant to produce a seedof a progeny plant of a subsequent generation; c) growing a progenyplant of a subsequent generation from said seed and crossing the progenyplant of a subsequent generation with itself or a second melon plant;and d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 1 more generation to producean inbred melon plant derived from the hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ.The invention further encompasses an inbred plant produced by suchmethod.

The invention even further relates to a method of producing melon fruitswhich may comprise: (a) cultivating the hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. NCIMB 42710, to produce fruits and; (b) harvesting melon fruits fromthe plant. The invention further comprehends the fruit itself,optionally as part of a food product, optionally in processed or packedform.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to not encompass withinthe invention any previously known product, process of making theproduct, or method of using the product such that Applicants reserve theright and hereby disclose a disclaimer of any previously known product,process, or method. It is further noted that the invention does notintend to encompass within the scope of the invention any product,process, or making of the product or method of using the product, whichdoes not meet the written description and enablement requirements of theUSPTO (35 U.S.C. §112, first paragraph) or the EPO (Article 83 of theEPC), such that Applicants reserve the right and hereby disclose adisclaimer of any previously described product, process of making theproduct, or method of using the product.

It is noted that in this disclosure and particularly in the claims,terms such as “comprises”, “comprised”, and “comprising” and the like(e.g., “includes”, “included”, “including”, “contains”, “contained”,“containing”, “has”, “had”, “having”, etc.) can have the meaningascribed to them in US Patent law, i.e., they are open ended terms. Forexample, any method that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or moresteps is not limited to possessing only those one or more steps and alsocovers other unlisted steps. Similarly, any plant that “comprises,”“has” or “includes” one or more traits is not limited to possessing onlythose one or more traits and covers other unlisted traits. Similarly,the terms “consists essentially of” and “consisting essentially of” havethe meaning ascribed to them in US Patent law, e.g., they allow forelements not explicitly recited, but exclude elements that are found inthe prior art or that affect a basic or novel characteristic of theinvention. See also MPEP §2111.03. In addition, the term “about” is usedto indicate that a value includes the standard deviation of error forthe device or method being employed to determine the value.

These and other embodiments are disclosed or are obvious from andencompassed by the following Detailed Description.

DEPOSIT

The Deposit with NCIMB Ltd, Ferguson Building, Craibstone Estate,Bucksburn, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, UK, on Jan. 6, 2017, under depositaccession number NCIMB 42710 was made pursuant to the terms of theBudapest Treaty. Upon issuance of a patent, all restrictions upon thedeposit will be removed, and the deposit is intended to meet therequirements of 37 CFR §§1.801-1.809. The deposit will be irrevocablyand without restriction or condition released to the public upon theissuance of a patent and for the enforceable life of the patent. Thedeposit will be maintained in the depository for a period of 30 years,or 5 years after the last request, or for the effective life of thepatent, whichever is longer, and will be replaced if necessary duringthat period.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants,seeds and derivatives of a new hybrid melon variety herein referred toas hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ. 34-742 RZ is a hybrid plant varietythat is uniform and distinct from other such hybrids, and may be stablyproduced after a cycle of reproduction.

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel plant withdesirable characteristics. Selection of traits is a very importantaspect of plant breeding. Once desirable traits are identified, theplants with those desirable traits are crossed in order to recombine thedesirable traits and through selection, varieties or parent lines aredeveloped. The goal is to combine in a single variety or hybrid animproved combination of desirable traits from the parent plant orplants. These important traits may include but are not limited to higheryield, field performance, fruit and agronomic quality such as fruitshape, size, and color, resistance to diseases and insects, andtolerance to drought and heat.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., F1 hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). Popular selection methods commonly include but are notlimited to pedigree selection, modified pedigree selection, massselection, and recurrent selection.

The complexity of inheritance influences choice of the breeding method.Backcross breeding is used to transfer one or a few favorable genescoding for a highly heritable trait into a desirable cultivar. Thisapproach is used extensively for breeding disease-resistant cultivars.Various recurrent selection techniques are used to improvequantitatively inherited traits controlled by numerous genes. The use ofrecurrent selection in self-pollinating crops depends on the ease ofpollination, the frequency of successful hybrids from each pollination,and the number of hybrid offspring from each successful cross.

The development of commercial melon hybrids relates to the developmentof melon parental lines, the crossing of these lines, and the evaluationof the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breedingmethods are used to develop cultivars from breeding populations.Breeding programs combine desirable traits from two or more varieties orvarious broad-based sources into breeding pools from which lines aredeveloped by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes. The new linesare crossed with other lines and the hybrids from these crosses areevaluated to determine which have the desirable characteristics.

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement and developmentof inbred lines of self-pollinating or cross-pollinating crops. Twoparents which possess favorable, complementary traits are crossed toproduce an F1. An F2 population is produced by selfing one or severalF1s or by intercrossing two F1s (sib mating). Selection of the bestindividuals is usually begun in the F2 population; then, beginning inthe F3, generally the best individuals in the best families areselected. Replicated testing of families, or hybrid combinationsinvolving individuals of these families, often follows in the F4generation to improve the effectiveness of selection for traits with lowheritability. At an advanced stage of inbreeding suitable lines are usedas parents to produce F1 hybrids, which are subsequently tested forpotential release as new varieties or cultivars.

Mass and recurrent selections may be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified or createdby intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued.

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror line that is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait to betransferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g. the cultivar orparent line) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.After the initial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype of thedonor parent for the preferred trait are selected and repeatedly crossed(backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. The resulting plant is expectedto have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g. the cultivar orparent line) and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.

Other methods of breeding may also relate to the single-seed descentprocedure which refers to planting a segregating population, harvestinga sample of one seed per plant, and using the one-seed sample to plantthe next generation. When the population has been advanced from the F2to the desired level of inbreeding, the plants from which lines arederived will each trace to different F2 individuals. The number ofplants in a population declines each generation due to failure of someseeds to germinate or some plants to produce at least one seed. As aresult, not all of the F2 plants originally sampled in the populationwill be represented by a progeny when generation advance is completed.

In addition to phenotypic observations, the genotype of a plant may alsobe examined. There are many laboratory-based techniques available forthe analysis, comparison and characterization of plant genotype; thesetechniques include but are not limited to Isozyme Electrophoresis,Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length polymorphisms(AFLPs), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs—which are also referred to asMicrosatellites), and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). Nowadays,sequence-based methods are utilizing SNPs that are randomly distributedacross genomes as a common tool for genotyping (e.g. Elshire et al. PloSOne Vol. 6: e19379, 2011; Poland et al. PloS One Vol. 7: e32253; Truonget al. PloS One Vol. 7 number 5: e37565, 2012).

With any of the aforementioned genotyping techniques, polymorphisms maybe detected when the genotype and/or sequence of the plant of interestis compared to the genotype and/or sequence of one or more referenceplants. As used herein, the genotype and/or sequence of a referenceplant may be derived from, but is not limited to, any one of thefollowing: parental lines, closely related plant varieties or species,complete genome sequence of a related plant variety or species, or thede novo assembled genome sequence of one or more related plant varietiesor species.

Molecular markers, which include markers identified through the use oftechniques such as Isozyme Electrophoresis, RFLPs, RAPDs, AP-PCR, DAF,SCARs, AFLPs, SSRs, and SNPs, may be used in plant breeding. One use ofmolecular markers is Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping. QTL mappingis the use of markers which are known to be closely linked to allelesthat have measurable effects on a quantitative trait. Selection in thebreeding process is based upon the accumulation of markers linked to thepositive effecting alleles and/or the elimination of the markers linkedto the negative effecting alleles from the plant's genome.

Molecular markers may also be used during the breeding process for theselection of qualitative traits. For example, markers closely linked toalleles or markers containing sequences within the actual alleles ofinterest may be used to select plants that contain the alleles ofinterest during a backcrossing breeding program. The markers may also beused to select toward the genome of the recurrent parent and against themarkers of the donor parent. This procedure attempts to minimize theamount of genome from the donor parent that remains in the selectedplants. It may also be used to reduce the number of crosses back to therecurrent parent needed in a backcrossing program. The use of molecularmarkers in the selection process is often called genetic marker enhancedselection or marker-assisted selection. Molecular markers may also beused to identify and exclude certain sources of germplasm as parentalvarieties or ancestors of a plant by providing a means of trackinggenetic profiles through crosses.

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new traits into melonvarieties. Mutations that occur spontaneously or are artificiallyinduced may be useful sources of variability for a plant breeder. Thegoal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate of mutation for adesired characteristic. Mutation rates may be increased by manydifferent means including temperature, long-term seed storage, tissueculture conditions, radiation (such as X-rays, Gamma rays, neutrons,Beta radiation, or ultraviolet radiation), chemical mutagens (such asbase analogs like 5-bromo-uracil), antibiotics, alkylating agents (suchas sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethyleneamines,sulfates, sulfonates, sulfones, or lactones), azide, hydroxylamine,nitrous acid or acridines. Once a desired trait is observed throughmutagenesis the trait may then be incorporated into existing germplasmby traditional breeding techniques. Details of mutation breeding may befound in Principles of Cultivar Development by Fehr, MacmillanPublishing Company, 1993.

The production of doubled haploids may also be used for the developmentof homozygous lines in a breeding program. Doubled haploids are producedby the doubling of one set of chromosomes from a heterozygous plant toproduce a completely homozygous individual. For example, see Wan et al.,Theor. Appl. Genet., 77:889-892, 1989

The melon plant of the invention may be arrived at through crossing ofinbred lines or through selection of the disclosed desirablecharacteristics by any of the breeding and selection methods mentionedabove.

Hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ is a cross between two uniform parentlines. The female line, ME6020, is developed from a first cross betweentwo commercially available varieties, and progeny was subsequentlycrossed with a third variety. After the crossings, the material wasselfed and selected for 9 generations. The selfings and selections wereexecuted in the breeding station in Aramon, France. The male line,ME6013, originates from a cross between two different commerciallyavailable varieties. In the RZ breeding station in Aramon, France, theselfings and selections were executed. The total process had a durationof 8 generations.

The first cross between those two parent lines was made in 2010. Thehybrid was evaluated in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Findings are that the34-742 RZ is an aromatic Harper or Western Shipper melon with improvedshelf life. The fruit skin turns slowly to yellow, and internal firmnessis higher than the traditional yellowing melon types available in themarket. Plant is strong, fruit size is medium and internal quality isreally nice.

In one embodiment, a plant of the invention has all the morphologicaland physiological characteristics of melon variety 34-742 RZ. Thesecharacteristics of a melon plant of the invention, e.g. variety 34-742RZ, are summarized in Table 1. In Table 2 the main differences with acomparable publicly available variety are given, when grown under thesame conditions.

The information presented in Tables 1 and 2 was determined in trialexperiments in accordance with official Dutch plant variety registrationauthorities (Naktuinbouw).

The terminology and descriptors used by the Naktuinbouw, and accordinglyin Table 1, are in line with the descriptors of the “UPOV Guidelines forthe Conduct of Tests for Distinctness, Uniformity, and Stability”, orthe “Test Guidelines” for Cucumis melo. The “Test Guidelines” indicatereference varieties for the descriptors or characteristics that areincluded in the list. Test guidelines for all crops may be accessedthrough the UPOV website, at http://www.upov.int/testguidelines/en/index.jsp. For melon, the most recent English TestGuideline TG/104/5, including reference varieties, was updated in 2014,and is accessible at http://www.upov.int/edocs/tgdocs/en/tg104.pdf. Theterminology and descriptors used in these tables are in line with theofficial terminology as of the filing date, and are thus clear for aperson skilled in the art.

In addition the “Calibration book of Cucumis melo L.—Melon” (Version 1,NAKTuinbouw, 2010) provides even more detailed reference information onmost of the characteristics that are included in Table 1.

As used herein resistances against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis(Fom) and powdery mildew Podosphaera xanthii (Px) are determined inaccordance with the protocol as described in the UPOV “Test Guidelines”TG/104/5 for Cucumis melo.

As used herein the intensity of green color of the skin of the youngfruit is observed on unripe fruits, before color change starts.Observation is best done when fruit is half the final size. A fruit forassessment should be well developed without any netting.

As used herein the density of dots of the fruit is observed on ripefruits, before change of the skin color from maturity to over maturity.

TABLE 1 Physiological and morphological characteristics of hybrid melonvariety 34-742 RZ Variety description information for 34-742 RZ General:Method of maintenance and 1. hybrid reproduction of the variety: 1. seedpropagated Type of culture: 3. in glasshouse and in the openInflorescence: Sex expression (at full flowering): 1. monoecious Youngfruit: Hue of green color of skin: 4. greyish green Intensity of greencolor of skin: 5. medium Fruit: Type: 10. Western Shipper Length: 6.medium-long Shape in longitudinal section: 4. circular Ground color ofskin: 4. grey Hue of ground color of skin: 3. yellowish Density ofdots: 1. absent or very sparse Density of patches: 1. absent or verysparse Grooves: 1. absent Cork formation: 9. present Pattern of corkformation: 5. netted only Main color of flesh: 5. orange Seed: Length:5. medium Color: 2. cream yellow Disease and pest resistances: Muskmelonnecrotic spot virus 1. absent (MNSV): Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. 9.present melonis (Fom) race 0: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. 9. presentmelonis (Fom) race 1: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. 9. present melonis (Fom)race 2: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. 1. absent melonis (Fom) race 1-2:Golovinomyces cichoracearum 2. intermediate race 1 (Gc; ex ec)):Podosphaera xanthii (Px; ex Sf) Not tested race 1: Podosphaera xanthii(Px; ex Sf) 2. intermediate race 2: Podosphaera xanthii (Px; ex Sf) 2.intermediate race 3: Podosphaera xanthii (Px; ex Sf) 2. intermediaterace 5: Aphis gossypii (Ag): 1. absent

TABLE 2 Differences in physiological and morphological characteristicsof 34-742 RZ with closest known variety Caribbean Gold. Characteristic34-742 RZ Caribbean Gold Young fruit: intensity of Medium-dark Verylight-light green color of skin Fruit: density of dots Absent or verysparse Medium to dense Resistance to Golovinomyces Intermediate Absentcichoracearum race 1

In an embodiment, the invention relates to a melon plant that has allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of the invention andhas acquired said characteristics by introduction of the geneticinformation that is responsible for the characteristics from a suitablesource, either by conventional breeding, or genetic modification, inparticular by cisgenesis or transgenesis. Cisgenesis is geneticmodification of plants with a natural gene, coding for an (agricultural)trait, from the crop plant itself or from a sexually compatible donorplant. Transgenesis is genetic modification of a plant with a gene froma non-crossable species or a synthetic gene.

Just as useful traits may be introduced into a hybrid by backcrossingthe trait into one or both parents, useful traits may be introduceddirectly into the plant of the invention, being a plant of hybrid melonvariety 34-742 RZ, by genetic transformation techniques; and, suchplants of hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ that have additional geneticinformation introduced into the genome or that express additional traitsby having the DNA coding therefore introduced into the genome viatransformation techniques, are within the ambit of the invention, aswell as uses of such plants, and the making of such plants.

Genetic transformation may therefore be used to insert a selectedtransgene into the plant of the invention, being a plant of hybrid melonvariety 34-742 RZ or may, alternatively, be used for the preparation oftransgenes which may be introduced by backcrossing. Methods for thetransformation of plants, including melon, are well known to those ofskill in the art.

Vectors used for the transformation of melon cells are not limited solong as the vector may express an inserted DNA in the cells. Forexample, vectors which may comprise promoters for constitutive geneexpression in melon cells (e.g., cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter)and promoters inducible by exogenous stimuli may be used. Examples ofsuitable vectors include pBI binary vector. The “melon cell” into whichthe vector is to be introduced includes various forms of melon cells,such as cultured cell suspensions, protoplasts, leaf sections, andcallus. A vector may be introduced into melon cells by known methods,such as the polyethylene glycol method, polycation method,electroporation, Agrobacterium-mediated transfer, particle bombardmentand direct DNA uptake by protoplasts. To effect transformation byelectroporation, one may employ either friable tissues, such as asuspension culture of cells or embryogenic callus or alternatively onemay transform immature embryos or other organized tissue directly. Inthis technique, one would partially degrade the cell walls of the chosencells by exposing them to pectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) ormechanically wound tissues in a controlled manner.

A particularly efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segmentsto plant cells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particlesare coated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those which may be comprised oftungsten, platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells insuspension are concentrated on filters or solid culture medium.Alternatively, immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged onsolid culture medium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at anappropriate distance below the macroprojectile stopping plate. Anillustrative embodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plant cellsby acceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, which may beused to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through a screen, suchas a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surface covered with targetmelon cells. The screen disperses the particles so that they are notdelivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates. It is believedthat a screen intervening between the projectile apparatus and the cellsto be bombarded reduces the size of projectiles aggregate and maycontribute to a higher frequency of transformation by reducing thedamage inflicted on the recipient cells by projectiles that are toolarge. Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, andmay be used to transform virtually any plant species, including a plantof melon variety 34-742 RZ.

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is another widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique isthat DNA may be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassingthe need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast.Agrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E.coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenient manipulations.Moreover, advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transferhave improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites in thevectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable of expressingvarious polypeptide coding genes. The vectors have convenientmulti-linker regions flanked by a promoter and a polyadenylation sitefor direct expression of inserted polypeptide coding genes.Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed and disarmed Ti genesmay be used for transformation. In those plant strains whereAgrobacterium-mediated transformation is efficient, it is the method ofchoice because of the facile and defined nature of the gene locustransfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediated plant integrating vectors tointroduce DNA into plant cells, including melon plant cells, is wellknown in the art (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,250,560 and 5,563,055).

Transformation of plant protoplasts also may be achieved using methodsbased on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment,electroporation, and combinations of these treatments.

A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for anygene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers,scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance,nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest.Examples of constitutive promoters useful for melon plant geneexpression include, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus(CaMV) P-35S promoter, a tandemly duplicated version of the CaMV 35Spromoter, the enhanced 35S promoter (P-e35S), the nopaline synthasepromoter, the octopine synthase promoter, the figwort mosaic virus(P-FMV) promoter (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619), an enhanced version ofthe FMV promoter (P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV isduplicated in tandem, the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter, asugarcane bacilliform virus promoter, a commelina yellow mottle viruspromoter, the promoter for the thylakoid membrane proteins from spinach(psaD, psaF, psaE, PC, FNR, atpC, atpD, cab, rbcS) (see U.S. Pat. No.7,161,061), the CAB-1 promoter from spinach (see U.S. Pat. No.7,663,027), the promoter from maize prolamin seed storage protein (seeU.S. Pat. No. 7,119,255), and other plant DNA virus promoters known toexpress in plant cells. A variety of plant gene promoters that areregulated in response to environmental, hormonal, chemical, and/ordevelopmental signals may be used for expression of an operably linkedgene in plant cells, including promoters regulated by (1) heat, (2)light (e.g., pea rbcS-3A promoter, maize rbcS promoter, or chlorophylla/b-binding protein promoter), (3) hormones, such as abscisic acid, (4)wounding (e.g., wunl, or (5) chemicals such as methyl jasmonate,salicylic acid, or Safener. It may also be advantageous to employorgan-specific promoters.

Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to the melon variety ofthis invention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from anotherspecies, or even genes or sequences which originate from or are presentin melon species, but are incorporated into recipient cells by geneticengineering methods rather than classical reproduction or breedingtechniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended to refer togenes that are not normally present in the cell being transformed, orperhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc., as found in thetransforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which are normally presentand that one desires to express in a manner that differs from thenatural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express. Thus, the term“exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any gene or DNA segmentthat is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless of whether asimilar gene may already be present in such a cell. The type of DNAincluded in the exogenous DNA may include DNA which is already presentin the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a differentorganism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequencecontaining an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding asynthetic or modified version of a gene.

Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and couldpotentially be introduced into a plant of melon variety 34-742 RZ.Non-limiting examples of particular genes and corresponding phenotypesone may choose to introduce into a melon plant include one or more genesfor insect tolerance, pest tolerance such as genes for fungal diseasecontrol, herbicide tolerance, and genes for quality improvements such asyield, nutritional enhancements, environmental or stress tolerances, orany desirable changes in plant physiology, growth, development,morphology or plant product(s).

Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences may affect these phenotypes byencoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targetedinhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example viaantisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms. The RNA could also be acatalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desiredendogenous mRNA product. Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNAwhich expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is usefulfor the practice of the present invention. (See also U.S. Pat. No.7,576,262, “Modified gene-silencing RNA and uses thereof.”)

U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,230,158, 7,122,720, 7,081,363, 6,734,341, 6,503,732,6,392,121, 6,087,560, 5,981,181, 5,977,060, 5,608,146, 5,516,667, eachof which, and all documents cited therein are hereby incorporated hereinby reference, consistent with the above INCORPORATION BY REFERENCEsection, are additionally cited as examples of U.S. patents that mayconcern transformed melon and/or methods of transforming melon or melonplant cells, and techniques from these US patents, as well as promoters,vectors, etc., may be employed in the practice of this invention tointroduce exogenous nucleic acid sequence(s) into a plant of melonvariety 34-742 RZ (or cells thereof), and exemplify some exogenousnucleic acid sequence(s) which may be introduced into a plant of melonvariety 34-742 RZ (or cells thereof) of the invention, as well astechniques, promoters, vectors etc., to thereby obtain further plants ofmelon variety 34-742 RZ, plant parts and cells, seeds, other propagationmaterial, harvestable parts of these plants, etc. of the invention, e.g.tissue culture, including a cell or protoplast, such as an embryo,meristem, cotyledon, pollen, leaf, anther, root, root tip, pistil,flower, seed or stalk.

The invention further relates to propagation material for producingplants of the invention. Such propagation material may comprise interalia seeds of the claimed plant and parts of the plant that are involvedin sexual reproduction. Such parts are for example selected from thegroup consisting of seeds, microspores, pollen, ovaries, ovules, embryosacs and egg cells. In addition, the invention relates to propagationmaterial which may comprise parts of the plant that are suitable forvegetative reproduction, for example cuttings, roots, stems, cells,protoplasts.

According to a further aspect thereof the propagation material of theinvention may comprise a tissue culture of the claimed plant. The tissueculture may comprise regenerable cells. Such tissue culture may bederived from leaves, pollen, embryos, cotyledon, hypocotyls,meristematic cells, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, seeds and stems.Tissue culture methodologies relating to melon plants are well known inthe art (P. P. Chee, HortScience 26(7): 908-910 (1991); J. F. Reynolds.14. In vitro culture of vegetable crops. Chapter 12.1 Melon. In: I. K.Vasil: Plant Cell and Tissue Culture: 349-351 (1994)).

Also, the invention comprehends methods for producing a seed of a 34-742RZ-derived melon plant which may comprise (a) crossing a plant of melonvariety 34-742 RZ, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42710, with itself or a second melonplant, and (b) whereby seed of a 34-742 RZ-derived melon plant form(e.g., by allowing the plant from the cross to grow to produce seed).Such a method may further comprise (c) crossing a plant grown from34-742 RZ-derived melon seed with itself or with a second melon plant toyield additional 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed, (d) growing theadditional 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed of step (c) to yield additional34-742 RZ-derived melon plants, and (e) repeating the crossing andgrowing of steps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10 generations tofurther generate 34-742 RZ-derived melon plants. The invention alsoencompasses a 72-245-derived melon plant or seed produced by suchmethod.

Backcrossing one of the parents of a hybrid may also be used to improvean inbred plant. Backcrossing transfers a specific desirable trait fromone inbred or non-inbred source to an inbred that lacks that trait. Thismay be accomplished, for example, by first crossing a superior inbred(A) (recurrent parent) to a donor inbred (non-recurrent parent), whichcarries the appropriate locus or loci for the trait in question. Theprogeny of this cross are then mated back to the superior recurrentparent (A) followed by selection in the resultant progeny for thedesired trait to be transferred from the non-recurrent parent. Afterfive or more backcross generations with selection for the desired trait,the progeny are heterozygous for loci controlling the characteristicbeing transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almostall other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred.

The invention also encompasses a method of introducing a desired traitinto a plant of hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ which may comprise: (a)crossing a parent plant of hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ, with a secondmelon plant that may comprise the desired trait to produce F1 progeny;(b) selecting an F1 progeny that may comprise the desired trait; (c)crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parent plant of melon variety34-742 RZ, to produce backcross progeny and (d) selecting backcrossprogeny which may comprise the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristics of said parent plant of melon variety34-742 RZ, when grown in the same environmental conditions.

The aforementioned method of introducing a desired trait into a plant ofhybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ could also further comprise (e) repeatingsteps (c) and (d) one or more times in succession to produce selectedfourth or higher backcross progeny that may comprise the desired traitand the physiological and morphological characteristics of said parentplant of melon variety 34-742 RZ and (h) crossing the backcrossed parentplant having the added desired trait with the other parent plant toobtain a plant which may comprise the desired trait and all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of a plant of melonvariety 34-742 RZ.

The invention additionally provides a method of introducing a desiredtrait into a plant of hybrid melon variety 34-742 RZ by reverse breeding(See generally allowed U.S. application Ser. No. 10/487,468, publishedas 2006-0179498 A1), which may comprise the following steps: (a)allowing the hybrid melon plant to produce haploid cells, whilesuppressing recombination, (b) growing haploid cells into diploidplants, (c) selecting those homozygous plants which together constitutethe hybrid variety of the invention as parent plants for the saidhybrid, (d) crossing one of the said parent plants with a plant havingthe desired trait, (e) crossing the selected F1 progeny with said parentplant, to produce backcross progeny; (f) selecting backcross progenywhich may comprise the desired trait and the physiological andmorphological characteristic of the parent plant; and, optionally, (g)repeating steps (e) and (f) one or more times in succession to produceselected fourth or higher backcross progeny that may comprise thedesired trait and all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of said parent plant, (h) crossing the backcrossedparent plant having the added desired trait with the other parent plantobtained after reverse breeding to obtain a plant which may comprise thedesired trait and all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of a plant of melon variety 34-742 RZ.

The invention further involves a method of determining the genotype of aplant of melon variety 34-742 RZ, representative seed of which has beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42710, or a first generationprogeny thereof, which may comprise obtaining a sample of nucleic acidsfrom said plant and comparing said nucleic acids to a sample of nucleicacids obtained from a reference plant, and detecting a plurality ofpolymorphisms between the two nucleic acid samples. This method mayadditionally comprise the step of storing the results of detecting theplurality of polymorphisms on a computer readable medium, ortransmitting the results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms.The plurality of polymorphisms are indicative of and/or give rise to theexpression of the morphological and physiological characteristics ofmelon variety 34-742 RZ.

The polymorphisms of this invention may be provided in a variety ofmediums to facilitate use, e.g. a database or computer readable medium,which may also contain descriptive annotations in a form that allows askilled artisan to examine or query the polymorphisms and obtain usefulinformation.

As used herein “database” refers to any representation of retrievablecollected data including computer files such as text files, databasefiles, spreadsheet files and image files, printed tabulations andgraphical representations and combinations of digital and image datacollections. In a preferred aspect of the invention, “database” refersto a memory system that may store computer searchable information.

As used herein, a “computer readable medium” refers to any medium thatmay be read and accessed directly by a computer. Such media include, butare not limited to: magnetic storage media, such as floppy discs, harddisc, storage medium and magnetic tape; optical storage media such asCD-ROM; electrical storage media such as RAM, DRAM, SRAM, SDRAM, ROM;and PROMs (EPROM, EEPROM, Flash EPROM), and hybrids of these categoriessuch as magnetic/optical storage media. A skilled artisan may readilyappreciate how any of the presently known computer readable mediums maybe used to create a manufacture which may comprise computer readablemedium having recorded thereon a polymorphism of the present invention.

As used herein, “recorded” refers to the result of a process for storinginformation in a retrievable database or computer readable medium. Forinstance, a skilled artisan may readily adopt any of the presently knownmethods for recording information on computer readable medium togenerate media which may comprise the polymorphisms of the presentinvention. A variety of data storage structures are available to askilled artisan for creating a computer readable medium where the choiceof the data storage structure will generally be based on the meanschosen to access the stored information. In addition, a variety of dataprocessor programs and formats may be used to store the polymorphisms ofthe present invention on a computer readable medium.

The present invention further provides systems, particularlycomputer-based systems, which contain the polymorphisms describedherein. Such systems are designed to identify the polymorphisms of thisinvention. As used herein, “a computer-based system” refers to thehardware, software and memory used to analyze the polymorphisms. Askilled artisan may readily appreciate that any one of the currentlyavailable computer-based system are suitable for use in the presentinvention.

The invention is further described by the following numbered paragraphs:

1. A melon (Cucumis melo) plant designated 34-742 RZ, representativeseed of which having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42710.

2. A seed of the plant of paragraph 1.

3. A part of the plant of paragraph 1, wherein said part of the plant issuitable for sexual reproduction.

4. A part of the plant of paragraph 3, wherein said part comprises amicrospore, pollen, an ovary, an ovule, an embryo sac, or an egg cell.

5. A part of the plant of paragraph 1, wherein said part of the plant issuitable for vegetative reproduction.

6. A plant part of paragraph 5, said part comprises a cutting, a root, astem, a cell, or a protoplast.

7. A tissue culture of regenerable cells from the melon plant ofparagraph 1.

8. The cell or protoplast of paragraph 6 derived from a leaf, pollen, anembryo, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, a meristematic cell, a root, a roottip, an anther, a flower, a seed, or a stem.

9. A method for producing a progeny plant of a melon (Cucumis melo)plant of paragraph 1, comprising crossing the plant of paragraph 1 withitself or with another Cucumis melo plant, harvesting the resultantseed, and growing said seed.

10. A progeny plant of a melon (Cucumis melo) plant of paragraph 1,wherein said progeny plant has genetic material for exhibiting themorphological and physiological characteristics as found in melonvariety 34-742 RZ; wherein the genetic information is as contained in aplant, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42710.

11. A progeny of a melon (Cucumis melo) plant of paragraph 1, having allthe morphological and physiological characteristics of the melon(Cucumis melo) plant of paragraph 1, representative seed of which havingbeen deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42710, wherein themorphological and physiological characteristics are as found in melonvariety 34-742 RZ, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. 42710.

12. A progeny of a melon plant as claimed in paragraph 10 or paragraph11, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. 42710, wherein the progeny is further modified in one ormore other characteristics.

13. Progeny as claimed in paragraph 12, wherein the modification iseffected by mutagenesis.

14. Progeny as claimed in paragraph 12, wherein the modification iseffected by transformation with a transgene.

15. A method of producing an inbred melon (Cucumis melo) plant derivedfrom hybrid melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZ, comprising thesteps:

a) preparing a progeny plant derived from hybrid melon (Cucumis melo)variety 34-742 RZ by crossing the plant of paragraph 1 with itself or asecond Cucumis melo plant;

b) crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second Cucumis melo plantto produce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation;

c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed andcrossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or asecond Cucumis melo plant; and

d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 3 more generations to produce aninbred Cucumis melo plant derived from the hybrid melon (Cucumis melo)variety 34-742 RZ.

16. An inbred melon plant produced by the method of paragraph 18.

17. A method of producing a melon fruit comprising: (a) obtaining aplant according to paragraph 1 or 2, wherein the plant has beencultivated to develop fruit; and (b) collecting a melon fruit from theplant.

18. A fruit produced by the method of paragraph 17.

19. The fruit of paragraph 18, wherein the fruit is part of a foodproduct, optionally in processed form.

20. A method for producing a seed of a 34-742 RZ-derived melon plantcomprising (a) crossing a plant of melon variety 34-742 RZ,representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMB AccessionNo. NCIMB 42710, with itself or a second melon plant, and (b) wherebyseed of a 34-742 RZ-derived melon plant forms.

21. The method of paragraph 20 further comprising (c) crossing a plantgrown from 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed with itself or with a secondmelon plant to yield additional 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed, (d)growing the additional 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed of step (c) to yieldadditional 34-742 RZ-derived melon plants, and (e) repeating thecrossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10generations to generate further 34-742 RZ-derived melon plants.

22. A method of determining the genotype of a plant of melon variety34-742 RZ, representative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. NCIMB 42710, or a first generation progeny thereof,comprising obtaining a sample of nucleic acids from said plant andcomparing said nucleic acids to a sample of nucleic acids obtained froma reference plant, and detecting a plurality of polymorphisms betweenthe two nucleic acid samples, wherein the plurality of polymorphisms areindicative of melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZ and/or give rise tothe expression of any one or more, or all, of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZof paragraph 1.

23. The method of paragraph 22 additionally comprising the step ofstoring the results of detecting the plurality of polymorphisms on acomputer readable medium, or transmitting the results of detecting theplurality of polymorphisms.

Having thus described in detail preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to particular details set forth in the above description as manyapparent variations thereof are possible without departing from thespirit or scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A melon (Cucumis melo) plant designated 34-742RZ, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession No.
 42710. 2. A seed of the plant of claim
 1. 3. A part of theplant of claim 1, wherein said part of the plant is suitable for sexualreproduction.
 4. A part of the plant as claimed in claim 3, wherein saidpart comprises a microspore, pollen, an ovary, an ovule, an embryo sac,or an egg cell.
 5. A part of the plant of claim 1, wherein said part ofthe plant is suitable for vegetative reproduction.
 6. A part as claimedin claim 5, said part comprises a cutting, a root, a stem, a cell, or aprotoplast.
 7. A tissue culture of regenerable cells from the melonplant of claim
 1. 8. The cell or protoplast of claim 6 derived from aleaf, pollen, an embryo, a cotyledon, a hypocotyl, a meristematic cell,a root, a root tip, an anther, a flower, a seed, or a stem.
 9. A methodfor producing a progeny plant of a melon (Cucumis melo) plant of claim1, comprising crossing the plant of claim 1 with itself or with anotherCucumis melo plant, harvesting the resultant seed, and growing saidseed.
 10. A progeny plant of a melon (Cucumis melo) plant of claim 1,wherein said progeny plant has genetic material for exhibiting themorphological and physiological characteristics as found in melonvariety 34-742 RZ; wherein the genetic information is as contained in aplant, representative seed of which having been deposited under NCIMBAccession No.
 42710. 11. A progeny of a melon (Cucumis melo) plant ofclaim 1, having all the morphological and physiological characteristicsof the melon (Cucumis melo) plant of claim 1, representative seed ofwhich having been deposited under NCIMB Accession No. 42710, wherein themorphological and physiological characteristics are as found in melonvariety 34-742 RZ, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No.
 42710. 12. A progeny of a melon plant asclaimed in claim 10, representative seed of which having been depositedunder NCIMB Accession No. 42710, wherein the progeny is further modifiedin one or more other characteristics.
 13. Progeny as claimed in claim12, wherein the modification is effected by mutagenesis.
 14. Progeny asclaimed in claim 12, wherein the modification is effected bytransformation with a transgene.
 15. A method of producing an inbredmelon (Cucumis melo) plant derived from hybrid melon (Cucumis melo)variety 34-742 RZ, comprising the steps: a) preparing a progeny plantderived from hybrid melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZ by crossingthe plant of claim 1 with itself or a second Cucumis melo plant; b)crossing the progeny plant with itself or a second Cucumis melo plant toproduce a seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generation; c) growinga progeny plant of a subsequent generation from said seed and crossingthe progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself or a secondCucumis melo plant; and d) repeating step b) or c) for at least 3 moregenerations to produce an inbred Cucumis melo plant derived from thehybrid melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZ.
 16. An inbred melon plantproduced by the method of claim
 18. 17. A method of producing a melonfruit comprising: (a) obtaining a plant according to claim 1, whereinthe plant has been cultivated to develop fruit; and (b) collecting amelon fruit from the plant.
 18. A fruit produced by the method of claim17.
 19. The fruit of claim 18, wherein the fruit is part of a foodproduct, optionally in processed form.
 20. A method for producing a seedof a 34-742 RZ-derived melon plant comprising (a) crossing a plant ofmelon variety 34-742 RZ, representative seed of which having beendeposited under NCIMB Accession No. NCIMB 42710, with itself or a secondmelon plant, and (b) whereby seed of a 34-742 RZ-derived melon plantforms.
 21. The method of claim 20 further comprising (c) crossing aplant grown from 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed with itself or with asecond melon plant to yield additional 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed, (d)growing the additional 34-742 RZ-derived melon seed of step (c) to yieldadditional 34-742 RZ-derived melon plants, and (e) repeating thecrossing and growing of steps (c) and (d) for an additional 3-10generations to generate further 34-742 RZ-derived melon plants.
 22. Amethod of determining the genotype of a plant of melon variety 34-742RZ, representative seed of which has been deposited under NCIMBAccession No. NCIMB 42710, or a first generation progeny thereof,comprising obtaining a sample of nucleic acids from said plant andcomparing said nucleic acids to a sample of nucleic acids obtained froma reference plant, and detecting a plurality of polymorphisms betweenthe two nucleic acid samples, wherein the plurality of polymorphisms areindicative of melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZ and/or give rise tothe expression of any one or more, or all, of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of melon (Cucumis melo) variety 34-742 RZas claimed in claim
 1. 23. The method of claim 22 additionallycomprising the step of storing the results of detecting the plurality ofpolymorphisms on a computer readable medium, or transmitting the resultsof detecting the plurality of polymorphisms.